Last night was a nail-biting evening for Howard County Democrats.

Early results showed incumbent Democratic County Executive James N. Robey moving toward a widely anticipated victory.

And it appeared likely that the Democratic majority on the Howard County Council would hold.

But a very close race between Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. left county Democrats facing the possibility of a Republican in the Maryland governor's chair for the first time in more than three decades.

Robey said he believed the gubernatorial race was going to be so close "all I can do is cross my fingers and hope."

Despite Robey's early lead, his opponent, Republican businessman Steven H. Adler, remained confident.

Still, he said, "it's not looking real good at the moment," after more than half the precincts had been counted and Robey led by 8 percentage points.

Christopher J. Merdon, an incumbent Republican County Council member from Ellicott City, said he expected "no problem" achieving re-election.

At a Democratic gathering in the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Ellicott City, Robey appeared confident that he would gain a second term.

He said he felt good about the early numbers, describing them as "a little better than we had predicted." But he noted he has been cautious his entire life.

"It's a little early to be jumping up and down and doing back flips, even if I could," said Robey.

Democrats were keeping track of the precinct-by-precinct vote with huge tally sheets showing cumulative totals for Robey and "Other Guy."

Robey arrived at the party about 8:45 p.m., sparking waves of cheers and applause. The crowd continued to build after his arrival, and the cheering grew with his reported margin.

The county executive was expected to end the evening a few miles away at the main county Democratic Party site, Kahler Hall in Columbia's Harper's Choice village.

Kenneth S. Ulman, who narrowly won the District 4 Democratic County Council primary against Mary Kay Sigaty, was less cautious than Robey in his assessment of his potentially pivotal race against Republican Joan C. Lancos.

"We won big," said Ulman with just a fraction of the returns counted. "I was telling people all day we would win by 2,500 votes."

The Ulman-Lancos face-off will likely determine what party controls the County Council, which currently has three Democrats and two Republicans. The hotly contested race between Ulman and Lancos to replace Councilwoman Mary C. Lorsung brought in more campaign funds - more than $100,000 collectively - than any other council race.

In the only other council race where an incumbent is not seeking re-election, Democrat David Rakes and Republican Brian Harlin were vying to replace Democrat C. Vernon Gray. Current council chairman, Gray is running for a District 13 state Senate seat.

At the Ten Oaks Ballroom in Clarksville - decorated with red, white and blue balloons - Republicans gathered around cheese plates and vegetable platters while watching the results on television.